Controllable RFID card

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing personalized information are provided. Based on an identification of a customer through the use of a card, personalized information is selectively produced and wirelessly provided to a display such as a wireless display. The identification of the customer, as well as additional information, can be provided through the use of the card, wherein functions of the card can be enabled or disabled by the customer through the use of on-card switches, buttons, slides and/or bistable domes.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a controllable RFID (radio frequencyidentification) card.

SUMMARY

In accordance with exemplary embodiments, a system and method to presentpersonalized information based on an identification of a customer isprovided. Preferably, the system operates by acquiring identificationinformation of a customer, using this acquired identificationinformation to determine personalized information and providing thepersonalized information to a customer.

Additionally, the system preferably provides an identification card thatcan be read wirelessly for the identification information of a customer,but can also be manually controlled by a customer.

In another embodiment, a customer controllable identification card,comprises a card with first and second planar surfaces; at least oneradio frequency identification tag within the card; and one or morecontrols located on the card, wherein the one or more controls extendbeyond the first surface when positioned in an up direction and extendbeyond the second surface in a down direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a side perspective view portion of an exemplarysystem to present personalized information based on an identification ofa customer.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of an embodiment of a customercontrolled card.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of a customer controlledcard.

FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate exemplary embodiments of a customer controlledcard.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of multiple controls on acard.

FIGS. 6A-6F illustrate exemplary control circuits and exemplarytactile/visual feedback domes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system and method to present personalized information based on anidentification of a customer and/or a product is provided, wherein thesystem operates by: (A) acquiring identification information of acustomer; (B) using this acquired identification information todetermine personalized information; (C) providing the personalizedinformation to a display screen; and (D) displaying the personalizedinformation on the display screen of the system for viewing by thecustomer, wherein each of these operating steps is discussed below.

Additionally, display screens and card controllers are provided herein,wherein the display screens can display personalized informationwirelessly and the card controllers can be controlled by a customer.

I. System Operation

A. Identification of a Customer and/or a Product

Identification of a customer and/or product is preferably provided bycapturing an individual identification without customer interaction.Specifically, each customer can be provided with a card, wherein thecard contains a mechanism which can be read wirelessly. The mechanismcan be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

In a preferred embodiment, RFID technology uses radio waves toautomatically identify people. The RFID system includes a RFID tag whichcan include a memory chip attached to an antenna, and a RFID readerseparate from the RFID tag which is used to read information from theRFID tag.

In general, the memory chip in the RFID tag is used to store a serialnumber, such as an EPC (electronic product code) or other information.An EPC is a product identification similar to the UPC (Universal ProductCode) or barcode. Like the bar code, the EPC can be divided into numbersthat identify a customer using a specific number for differentmanufacturers, products, versions or serial numbers. This EPC isembedded in a memory chip (smart tag) on individual products or cards,wherein each smart tag can be scanned by a wireless “reader,” whichtransmits the product's embedded identity code to the Internet, intranetor other connections to where the “real” information on the product istransmitted from one location to another. That information can then becommunicated to provide whatever information is needed about thatproduct.

In the preferred embodiment, the “readers” or EPC readers use radiowaves to “communicate” with RFID tags and gather EPCs. Throughcommunication between the RFID tags and the EPC readers, a customer canbe identified, wherein the EPC reader transmits one or more radiofrequencies which can be modulated by the RFID tags, then the EPC readerreceives the one or more modulated radio frequencies, wherein thereceived one or more modulated radio frequencies can be used to “read”an RFID tag and identify the customer.

RFID tags and EPC readers can be tuned to the same radio frequency inorder to communicate with one another; however, multiple frequencies areavailable for RFID systems. Generally there are high frequencies (“HF,”around 13.56 MHz), ultra-high frequencies (“UHF,” around 850-950 MHz)and microwave frequencies (around 2.45 and 5.8 GHz) used with RFIDsystems. Additionally, there are near-field inductive communicationfrequencies (around 125 KHz) for use with wireless credit cards and thelike. Thus, there are many options (near-field inductive or E-fieldcapacitive and EM far-field coupling at several frequencies) forproviding wireless power other than the power used for a maincommunications channel to a tag.

HF tags, UHF tags, combinations of HF and UHF tags and transceivers areused in a preferred system, where multiple RF power sources can be usedsimultaneously as desired, as discussed below, and multiple transceiverscan be used for different ranges as discussed in U.S. Pat. No.6,726,099, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The wireless read fields, such as RF fields, can be either magneticfields or electrical fields depending upon the type of RFID tags to beread. For inductively coupled RFID tags, the wireless read fields aremagnetic fields, wherein the RFID tag receives the magnetic energy ofthe magnetic field and modulates the magnetic field. Next, the wirelessinformation reader, such as an EPC reader, reads the modulated magneticfield to identify the RFID tag and the system correlates theidentification of the RFID tag with a customer and/or product based uponpreviously stored information. Capacitively coupled RFID tags operate ina manner similar to the inductive coupled RFID tags except that the RFIDtag modulates an electric field, and the modulated electric field isused to identify the RFID tag.

With respect to a wireless read field, situations may occur where thereare more than one RFID tag is present in this field. However, it isdesirable that the RFID and personalized information are based on atmost one RFID tag corresponding to one customer, where each is mostproximate to the system. To address these situations, exemplaryembodiments employ logic which can detect the proximity of the read RFIDtags. Specifically, based upon the strength of the signal read from theRFID tags, the system can determine that the strongest signalcorresponds to the RFID tag(s) most proximate to the system.

Additionally, the system can employ a signal strength threshold tocontrol how close an RFID tag must be before it is read and personalizedinformation is displayed. For example, based upon routine testing it canbe determined that a predetermined signal strength corresponds to apredetermined distance from a wireless information reader and a display.This predetermined distance is selected to ensure that the personalizedinformation displayed is provided only to the intended recipient of theinformation.

B. Using Acquired Identification Information to Determine PersonalizedInformation

Using the acquired identification information, or EPC, from the EPCreader and RFID tag, allows for other information to be gathered inreference to the EPC. Preferably, the EPC works together with a PhysicalMarkup Language (PML) and an Object Naming Service (ONS). PML is a newstandard “language” for describing physical objects to the Internet inthe same way that HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the commonlanguage on which most Internet web sites are based. The ONS tellscomputer systems where to find information about any object that carriesan EPC code, or smart tag. ONS is based in part on the Internet'sexisting Domain Name System (DNS), which routes information toappropriate web sites. The ONS will likely be many times larger than theDNS, serving as a lightening fast “post office” that locates data forevery single one of trillions of objects carrying an EPC code.

The Physical Markup Language enables linking physical objects to eachother, people and information through the Internet using Electronictags, EPC, PML and ONS. Electronic tags refer to a family oftechnologies that transfer data wirelessly between tagged objects andelectronic readers. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags oftenhave small radio antennas, which transmit data over a short distance.

The EPC was conceived as a means to identify physical objects. The EPCcode was created to enumerate all objects and to accommodate current andfuture naming methods. The EPC code was intended to be universally andglobally accepted as a means to link physical objects to the computernetwork, and to serve as an efficient information reference. The ObjectNaming Service (ONS) links the Electronic Product Code (EPC) with itsassociated data file. More specifically, the ONS is an automatednetworking service, which, when given an EPC number, returns a hostaddress on which the corresponding data file is located. The ONS isbased on the standard Domain Naming Service (DNS).

Finally, the Physical Markup Language (PML) can be used for describingand classifying objects in a PML file, where the information is thuskept away from the object label.

Therefore, a processor can connect to the Internet to communicate withthe ONS, wherein the ONS can find a link corresponding to the EPC andtransmit this link back to the processor, wherein the processor canfollow the link and gather information in PML, which in turn can be sentback to the EPC reader.

Also, in accordance with exemplary embodiments, a web service can alsobe associated with the system, where a Bamboo/SQL (Structured QueryLanguage) service (such as produced by ThingMagic), an Apache web serveror other lightweight web service engine can be used to provide data tothe system. Access to information from the Internet can be provided by aTCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) protocol stackwith an authentication cryptographic component in a conventional manner.

C. Providing the Personalized Information to a Display Screen of theSystem for Viewing by the Customer

The EPC reader can provide personalized information to a display screenthrough transmitting data of the personalized information through theelectromagnetic radiation field, as mentioned above. The data fordisplay can be transmitted using various formats, such as ASCII text,HTML, XML, mobile code, such as Java, bitmaps or compressed bitmapstructures such as simple run length encoding or JPEG encoding. Data forthe system can be transferred using conventional XML constructs such asthose in the EPC PML standard, as mentioned above, and others. The datacan also be encrypted and the components can be verified forcommunication via passwords or other authentication methods.

II. Card Controller

Also, as mentioned above, the system preferably provides a card that canbe read wirelessly for identification or other information, but can alsobe controlled by a customer. Thus, a customer can customize a card toprovide information and personal preferences to a card reader system.

A preferred embodiment of a card that can be read contains a RFID tag,as well as controls on the card for a customer to modify. As illustratedin FIG. 1, a system 100 is provided for acquiring identificationinformation of a customer, and then personalizing information based onthe identification information for display on a display screen 110. Thisis accomplished by providing a system 100 in communication with awireless information reader, such as an EPC (electronic product code)reader 130, and a display screen 110, wherein if a card is broughtwithin the RF (radio frequency) field 150, information from the card canbe read. A wireless information reader, such as the EPC reader 130, canbe provided, wherein radio waves can be transmitted by an antenna, suchas an EPC antenna 140 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The radio waves can bein the form of an electromagnetic field, such as a RF field 150, whichas illustrated in FIG. 1, can be provided in front of a display screen110, to communicate with RFID tags to acquire EPCs.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, one or more controls310 can be provided along an exterior surface of an RFID containing card300. By providing controls on a card, a customer can use the card itselfto provide preferences to the card reader. Therefore, the cards can becustomized at the point of use and, if desired, functions of the cardcan be enabled or disabled depending on the customer at the point ofuse.

Preferably, the cards can be customized through the use of controls 310.Preferably, the controls 310 are provided in the form of switches,slides, buttons and/or domes. Controls 310 are preferably provided inthese forms to provide tactile and visual feedback and confirmation ofcustomer's selections. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3,exemplary controls 310 can be provided in the form of bistable invertingdome switches (hereinafter “bistable domes”), which are illustrated in afront perspective view in FIG. 2 and a side perspective view in FIG. 3.

It is noted that switches, slides and/or buttons may also be preferableas they can be used to provide similar advantages to the bistable domeswith different tactile and/or visual feedback and different physicalmechanisms that may be more preferable depending upon the application.Additionally, it is noted that while the controls 310 can be stable,binary controls or switches, such as the exemplary bistable domesillustrated, the controls 310 can also be momentary contact switches,wherein the state of the control can be stored electronically with orwithout visual or tactile feedback.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, bistable dome controls 310 can be used toprovide tactile and/or visual feedback to a user and can be up or down,wherein for example, up can enable a feature of the card, while down candisable a feature of the card.

The exemplary bistable domes, as well as other switches, slides and/orbuttons, can be used as bimodal switches to activate or deactivate acircuit. As illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, examples of these types ofswitches are provided, wherein a switch can be opened, or deactivated,in an “up” position so that the conductive dome 430 is away from aconductor 420. Alternatively, the switch can be closed in a “down”position, where a conductive dome 430 can be placed in contact with aconductor 420 thus activating the circuit.

In order to provide tactile and/or visual feedback to a user, a card 440with an open area 450 can be provided, as illustrated in FIG. 4C,wherein the open area 450 can allow a user to touch or feel the bistabledome control whether it is concave or convex therein.

In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4D, a RFID tag 460 can beplaced within a switch circuit 470, wherein the RFID tag 460 can beactivated or deactivated by a switch, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B,such as by an inverting dome shunt 480. Thus, a RFID tag 460 can be madeavailable or unavailable simply by opening or closing a switch bypushing on one side or the other side of the opening area 450 in whichthe inverting dome shunt 480 is located.

The controls 310 can provide independent operations of different aspectsof the card as desired. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a firstcontrol 310 can be to enable/disable the card, while a second control320 can be to selectively determine the perimeter range for the card,e.g., long range or short range. Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG.5, for example, multiple controls can be used to set promotionpreferences for reading in a grocery store, or to play a game of chance,similar to bingo, wherein a user can push down several bistable domecontrols, while pushing up other bistable dome controls to create apattern. It is noted that while bistable dome controls are illustratedin FIG. 5, other switches, slides and/or buttons may also be used tocreate a pattern on the card. Thus, by providing controls to a customer,attributes of the card can be modified, wherein the provision of thecontrols along an external surface makes such modifications easilyaccessible to the customer.

The controls 310 can operate as mentioned above by activating ordeactivating a switch, which can encompass several alternative means foroperating the controls 310. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, thecircuit can be provided with a simple shorting mechanism, where thecircuit is controlled through contact or lack of contact between thecontact bridge 610 and the circuit 620. Alternatively, a switchedresistor can be used, for example as illustrated in FIG. 6B, in a rangeadjustment circuit, wherein the contact bridge 610 is either in contactor not in contact with a resistor containing circuit 630. As anotheralternative, a resistive dome 640, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, can beused in addition to the contact bridge 610 and the circuit 620 of FIG.6A, wherein the resistive dome 640 can provide a range adjustmentcircuit similar to FIG. 6B.

The controls 310 can also include a visual display indicator 640, asillustrated in FIGS. 6D and 6E, on one or both sides of the controls310. By providing a visual display indicator 640, a customer could beable to visually affirm the status of the controls 310. Preferably, thevisual display indicator 640 is a translucent indicating membrane 640capable of altering appearance when in contact with a portion of thecontrol 310. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 6D and 6E, atranslucent indicating membrane 640 in contact with a top portion of acontact bridge 610 would appear in top view 650 as a lighter coloredmembrane, while a top view 660 of the contact bridge 610 while not incontact with the translucent indicating membrane 640 would appear in topview 660 as a darker colored membrane.

The controls 310 can also be provided with tactile feedback in additionto visual feedback. The tactic feedback can be provided in numerousshapes, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 6F, wherein the surface ofthe controls 310 can have a solid surface 671, a dome with differentshaped recess, therein 672, 673, different shaped cones 674, 675, 676 orother tactile feedback providing shapes.

Controls for devices have also been discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,304and U.S. Patent Application Nos. 2002/0140546 A1, 2003/0132301 A1 and2001/0043141 A1, which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

III. Examples

In an exemplary embodiment, a cigarette kiosk can be supplied with anexemplary display system, wherein a display screen can be added to akiosk and can be used to display personalized information to a customer.For example, a customer can customize a card containing a RFID tag byselectively changing controls on the card to represent the customer'sdesires for information. The card can then be read by an EPC reader ofthe system when the card enters a RF field produced by the EPC reader.Next, the EPC reader can gather personalized information based on an EPCread from the RFID tag by the EPC reader.

After the personalized information is gathered by the EPC reader, theEPC reader can then transmit data through the RF field to the displayscreen. Thus, with the display screen located in the RF field, thedisplay screen can display the personalized information data using thedata and power from the EPC reader. Therefore, by using the customercontrolled RFID tag containing card in conjunction with the wirelessdisplay system, personalized information along with power can betransmitted through a RF field to the wireless display, wherein thewireless display screen can wirelessly display the personalizedinformation.

In another exemplary embodiment, a wireless display system and acustomer controlled RFID tag card can be provided for use in patternrecognition applications, wherein a customer can control theindividual's card to create a pattern that the system can recognize andanswer. For example, the card can be provided with multiple bistabledome controls, as mentioned above, wherein a user can depress some ofthe bistable dome controls while leaving other bistable dome controlsnot depressed to create an individual pattern. Then, the individualpattern in conjunction with the RFID tag in the card can be broughtwithin a RF field of an EPC reader, wherein the pattern of the bistabledomes and the RFID tag can be read. Next, the pattern of the bistabledomes and the RFID tag can be compared to predetermined information, andan answer can be given. For example, the system can be used as a game ofchance, wherein if matches between the pattern and the predeterminedinformation are found, then notification of winning can be given to thecustomer.

The preferred embodiments are merely illustrative and should not beconsidered restrictive in any way. The scope of the invention is givenby the appended claims, rather than the preceding description, and allvariations and equivalents which fall within the range of the claims areintended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displaying personalized information,comprising: providing, by an information reader device, anelectromagnetic radiation field; reading, by the information readerdevice and from an identification card or tag, identificationinformation stored on the identification card or tag using theelectromagnetic radiation field; retrieving, via a network, personalizedinformation corresponding to the identification information read fromthe identification card or tag; transmitting the personalizedinformation, by the information reader device and via theelectromagnetic radiation field, to a display screen, wherein thedisplay screen is powered by the electromagnetic radiation field; anddisplaying the personalized information on the display screen.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the identification information is read from acard with at least one control, wherein the control enables or disablesa function of a card, and wherein information on the card is read by theinformation reader device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cardcomprises a smart card.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the smart cardcomprises an RFID tag.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the at leastone control comprises a switch, a slide, a button, a bistable invertingdome and/or a momentary contact switch.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the card comprises multiple controls.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one control comprises a tactile or visual responsedisplay on the card.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the systemcomprises a cigarette sales promotion system, a consumer buying patternrecognition system, a game of chance system, or an electronic pricedisplay system.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information readerreceives information from the card identifying a customer.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the information reader reads an electronicproduct code from a microchip in the card, transmits the electronicproduct code through a processor to the internet or an intranet andreceives display information through the processor corresponding to thecard.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the card includes: first andsecond planar surfaces; at least one radio frequency identification tagwithin the card; and one or more controls located on the card, whereinthe one or more controls are configured to selectively enable or disableradio frequency readable functions of the card.
 12. The method of claim11, wherein the one or more controls extend beyond the first planarsurface when positioned in an up direction and extend beyond the secondplanar surface in a down direction.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereinthe one or more controls are switches, slides, buttons, bistable domesand/or momentary contact switches.
 14. The method of claim 11, whereinthe one or more controls are physically movable on a surface of thecard.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more controlsenable a user of the card to interactively communicate with a cardreader via an electromagnetic field.
 16. The method of claim 11, whereina control of the one or more controls is configured to selectivelydetermine an RF perimeter range for the card.
 17. The method of claim11, wherein at least one control of the one or more controls isconfigured to enable interactive communication with a card reader at thepoint of use.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one controlof the one or more controls is configured to provide tactile feedback orvisual feedback based on a selection state.
 19. The method of claim 1,wherein the information reader device is an RFID reader, the readidentification card or tag is one of a plurality of identification cardsor tags within a range of the RFID reader and the method furthercomprises a step of determining that the identification card or tag isclosest in proximity to the RFID reader.
 20. The method of claim 1,further comprising steps of: determining, a signal strength of theidentification card or tag; and comparing the determined signal strengthto a predetermined signal strength threshold.